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According to the figures, from last September, there are 329 ethnic minority officers in GMP.

Most - nearly 250 - are at the lowest rank of constable.

Speaking at the Citizens UK Commission on Islam, Participation and Public Life, held in Manchester this morning, he said: “Last week I announced that I am seeking the Labour nomination to be the first elected mayor of Greater Manchester. I asked colleagues to join me in a new mission to tackle inequality.

“One of the most pernicious forms of inequality in Greater Manchester is the lack of diversity amongst our public service workforce and political representatives, especially at a senior level.

“This is a major barrier to both community cohesion and integration.

“It is a scandal that when 15 to 20pc of the population of Greater Manchester are from BME communities only 5pc of police officers in Greater Manchester are from those same communities.

“There have been numerous pledges to tackle this issue with no progress.”

He said as mayor he would aim to make the force representative by 2024.

Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan said: “It is important for us to have a workforce that reflects the diverse community of Greater Manchester and we continue to do all we can to attract applications from people of all backgrounds.

“The Chief Constable has publicly stated on a number of occasions the importance of developing a representative workforce and this is at the forefront of our minds as we embark upon our first recruitment drive in five years.

“For the last two years we have been able to increase representation to 10.95% among PCSOs and 11.39% within the Special Constabulary. This is due to a targeted initiative, which we will build upon through our latest recruitment.

“Given the situation and lack of recruitment of police officers this has been a significant challenge but we are committed to continuing our efforts in this area.”

Mr Lewis also flagged up the lack of representation within the region’s Labour leadership - pledging to ensure 10 members of his political cabinet would be women, while one in five would be from an ethnic minority background.

Labour needed to face up to some ‘hard truths’ around the issue of diversity, he admitted.

Currently only one of Greater Manchester’s Labour chiefs, Oldham ’s recently appointed leader Jean Stretton, is a woman. None of them are of an ethnic minority.